Maurice Ravel (1875–1917) Ravel Tzigane Ravel is renowned for his elegance and orchestral craftsmanship, evident in works such as Mother Goose, Daphnis et Chloé and Boléro. He was also a master orchestrator, famously arranging works like Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Tzigane was inspired by Hungarian violinist Jelly d’Arányi. Drawing Read more
Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904) Dvorak Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 10 (1872) Allegro moderato Adagio molto; Tempo di Marcia Finale; Allegro vivace Dvořák’s Third Symphony reflects the influence of Beethoven, Smetana, Brahms and Wagner, blending Czech folk elements with symphonic tradition. The first movement begins with a brief introduction Read more
Joanna Brouk (1949–2017) Joanna Brouk Lalinia Electra: The Awakening (1982) Joanna Brouk was born in St. Louis, Missouri. She began college on the East Coast, later transferring to Berkeley to study poetry. She was drawn to Mills College, where she explored synthesizers such as Moog and Buchla, capable of producing Read more
Berenice Robinson (1909–1990) Berenice Robinson Overture in D, Op. 13 (1940) Eagle-eared listeners may remember this piece from last season, which we plan to add to our next CD release as part of the American Romantics project, as a perfect example of the interwar Neo-Classical style in music, heard in Read more
Bottessini Bass Concerto Program Notes Bottessini Bass Concerto Giovanni Bottessini came from a modest family in a small town near Cremona, Italy. Although he began playing violin, he was accepted to the Milan Conservatory as a scholarship student, on the double bass! This was a fruitful choice – a diligent Read more
Lutosławski Concerto for Orchestra Lutosławski Concerto for Orchestra. The Concerto for Orchestra genre emerged, particularly, from two Hungarian composers, Zoltán Kodály (1939) and then Béla Bartók (1943), and combines the idea of a Baroque-era “concerto grosso” with the expanded instrumental capabilities of a full, modern orchestra, and features all sections. Read more
Duke Ellington Three Black Kings, Ballet for Orchestra Program Notes Duke Ellington Three Black Kings – “Three Black Kings, Ballet for Orchestra” is Ellington’s last work, and while he followed his practice of not completing works until shortly before their performance, he left detailed instructions. It’s a tribute to Martin Read more
Schumann Symphony No. 3 Program Notes Schumann Symphony No. 3 – Schumann didn’t write this symphony as his “Symphony No. 3” – it was the fourth symphony he composed, and the actual third was reworked and published as his fourth. However, its first movement draws an interesting parallel with Beethoven’s Read more
Grażyna Bacewicz Cello Concerto No. 1 Program Notes Bacewicz Cello Concerto No. 1 (1951) Born in 1906 in Łódź, Poland’s third-largest city, to a musical family, the young Grażyna showed early promise, with violin and composition studies taking her to Warsaw and then Paris. Her teachers included Nadia Boulanger (teacher Read more
Mahler Symphony No. 5 Program Notes Mahler Symphony No. 5 (1902) Gustav Mahler spent his childhood in the out-of-the way town Iglau, Bohemia (now Jihlava, in the Czech Republic), but by the time he composed his Symphony No. 5, he had risen to the pinnacle of the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s musical Read more